Minecraft Blog

This was our first collaborative project, and always will have a special place in my heart. Since I am a professional clarinetist and run a YouTube channel putting up videos of my playing, this was the first time I was able to combine my love of music and Minecraft with my students. The idea started with a classical music composition contest in which contestants needed to upload a video of their performance of a piece for clarinet and piano called "Ukiyo-e: Pictures of the Floating World" by composer Greg Bartholomew. "Floating World" reminded me of the beautiful floating islands my children were building in Minecraft, and together with the trouble I was having getting the kids to stop playing on the computer I needed for the recording, led to the story of the video.:

"Mom needs to use the computer for her job, which is recording clarinet music by a set due date. Son does NOT want to stop playing Minecraft. Son comes up with the idea to 'reprogram' the computer and leave Minecraft running, so when Mom starts to use the computer to record her song, she is sucked inside to fly around the peaceful Minecraft world her son left running. When the music finishes Mom returns to reality, wondering if it was all just a dream."

The kids and I collaborated on the script, film direction, and production. They created the Minecraft world, my skin, and acted my part in game themselves. Along with my husband, the kids also worked on the film editing and filming. We had a lot of fun together, and it will always be one of my favorite videos on my clarinet channel.